DHAKA: At least 53 Boko Haram fighters were killed in Damboa in the northeasterly Borno state of the country, Nigeria's military claims. 

Chris Olukolade, Nigeria's defence spokesman, said five soldiers and a senior military officer had also been killed in the exchange of fire on Friday night.

Police blamed Boko Haram for the offensive after fighters attacked the base with rocket-propelled grenades.

A security source said the raid was a revenge mission after dozens of fighters were killed in an air and ground attack on two of their camps in the Yejiwa and Alagarno areas.

In a separate incident, also on Friday, a suicide bomber targeted worshippers at a mosque in a remote village in Konduga in the country's northeast, killing five people and wounding dozens.

Source: aljazeera.com

BDST: 1021 HRS, JUL 06, 2014